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Dear Virtual Psychology Student,

Welcome to the 100% online edition of Psychology 230: Human Sexuality at College of the Canyons. My name is Rick Howe and I am your actual instructor.  Please read this entire letter for details about logging in to the course and the amount of work required.  If you have any further questions that this letter does not answer, please send me an e-mail at rick.howe@canyons.edu.  I will do my best to get back to you within 24 hours.

When do we get to start?
This course will be available on COC's Blackboard course management system beginning Monday, July 8, 2013.  Instructions for logging in to Blackboard are located on the COC Blackboard Page.  Expect to hit the ground running, so to speak, as we will begin work very quickly.  You will be dropped from the class if you do not log in to Blackboard by 11:59pm Pacific time on Monday, July 8.

Is everything for this class done online from the comfort of my own home?
That is an excellent question.  This course is advertised as 100% online, which means that all work will be done online and there are no classroom meetings.  However, exams will be proctored at either the Tutorial Lab at the Valencia campus of COC (LTLC-126) or another suitable facility closer to you. If you are not local to the Valencia campus (local being defined as living in the Santa Clarita, Antelope, or San Fernando Valleys) you will need to find an authorized, alternate educational facility, such as a local community college or university to take each exam. If this applies to you, you would contact the proctoring facility prior to the exam, obtain their contact information and contact Kimberly Haglund (661-362-3349 or kimberly.haglund@canyons.edu) in the COC TLC lab to get everything set up. Since there are a large number of students taking 100% online classes at COC, Renee will need some time to verify the status of the facility and send out exam details to the proctor.

 
Required Materials and Technology
You will need to purchase a textbook for this class. I would recommend purchasing the textbook prior to the beginning date of the course as class work will begin immediately thereafter. The book you will use for this course is Human Sexuality, 3/e by Roger R. Hock (ISBN 9780205227433), and is available in the COC bookstore.

Given that this is an online course, you must:

1) have a reliable computer with reliable internet access;

2) know how to access your COC e-mail address (for information on your COC e-mail address, go to http://www.canyons.edu/offices/admissions/faqs/studentemail.html); and

3) a good browser.  Blackboard recommends that you use Mozilla Firefox as your browser software. (Click link to download Firefox.)
Are You Ready for Online Coursework?
As noted above, your work for this class will be completed using Blackboard, an online course management system.  Although not a requirement, it will be very helpful if you are familiar with using internet browser software (such as Firefox, Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.), with sending and receiving e-mail, and with attaching a file to an e-mail message. If you are unsure of your skill level and whether or not you are ready to take a class online, you can visit this site to take a number of self-assessment surveys designed to help you determine your readiness.

 
If You Think This Class Will Be Easy…
If you are already familiar with taking online courses, this class will likely feel comfortable. If this is the first time you have taken an online course, I’d like to point out the differences between the online environment and the traditional classroom. The most important point to be made is that learning in the online world requires good time management skills and a consistently high level of self-motivation.  Since I will not be visible to you in a classroom, it is possible that you may forget about the work required for success in this course. There is a significant amount of effort required, including discussion boards, chapter quizzes, assignments, and exams.  We will cover approximately one chapter per week, so expect to spend about 6-9 hours per week completing the reading assignments and other work for this class. If this sounds like more than you can manage without external prompting, perhaps a more traditional class is for you. If you are highly motivated, then this is the course for you. This class promises to provide you with a good overview of the field of human sexuality, as well as the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of students from many different backgrounds.

 
If you have questions about this course you may contact me by phone at (661) 362-5906 or e-mail at rick.howe@canyons.edu. If you have general questions about distance learning at College of the Canyons, please visit the COC Distance Learning Web Site.

 
Sincerely, 

Rick Howe, M.A.
Professor of Psychology
College of the Canyons